The ‘curse’ of confidence

We live in an era where ‘confidence’ has become a precious commodity. ‘Wall Streets’ and ‘Main Streets’ are both driven by confidence. A ‘hiccup’ in confidence in one facet leads to a chain reaction, in some cases driving bankruptcy in economies and enterprises. Lehman Brothers and the Greek economy found the blow of confidence (the lack of it) was as powerful as its economic /financial performance. The real danger though is the pre-occupation of corporates and financial markets in managing (in some cases manipulating) confidence – when in fact we should be driving real economic value addition.